2016 October 11-16
for more information: madison cocktailweek.com
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@ madison cocktailweek
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123 E. Main St. Madison, WI 608-256-4141
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1 S. Pinckney St. #107 Madison, WI 608-251-0500 letoile-restaurant.com
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23 N. Pinckney St. Madison, WI 608-310-4545 theoldfashioned.com
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917 E. Mifflin St. Madison, WI 608-622-1414 breesestevensfield.com
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101 King St. Madison, WI 608-283-0000 lucillemadison.com
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931 E. Main St. #8 Madison, WI 608-260-0812 oldsugardistillery.com
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ISTHMUS DRINKS 2016
The Studio Yoga. Fitness. Disciussion.
625 Williamson St. Madison, WI 608-441-5310 thestudiomadison.com
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1380 Williamson St. Madison, WI gibs.bar
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119 King St. Madison, WI 608-229-0900 madisonsdowntown.com
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2540 University Ave. Madison, WI 608-819-8555 oliverspublichouse.com
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10 N. Livingston St. Madison, WI 608-630-9400 sujeomadison.com
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10 W. Mifflin Madison, WI 608-630-9222 thefieldtable.com
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117 E. Main St. Madison, WI 608-294-9371 madurocigarbar.com
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128 E. Wilson St. Madison, WI 608-255-8376 osteriapapavero.com
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601 North St. Madison, WI 608-241-5515 thetiptoptavern.com
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18 N. Carroll St. Madison, WI 608-229-8800 graftmadison.com
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115 King St. Madison, WI 608-255-0901 majesticmadison.com
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1344 E. Washington Ave. Madison, WI 608-819-8002 pasqualscantina.com/east
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617 Williamson St. Madison, WI 608-441-1600 sardinemadison.com
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131 E. Mifflin St. Madison, WI 608-283-9500 heritagetavern.com 829 E. Washington Ave. Madison, WI 608-237-1904 julepmadison.com
121 S. Pinckney St. Madison, WI 608-259-9799 merchantmadison.com
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Natt Spil
211 King St. Madison, WI nattspil.com
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821 E. Johnson St. Madison, WI 608-284-7638 robinroombar.com 1301 Regent St. Madison, WI 608- 256-0600 rockysmadison.com
Tornado Club
STEAK HOUSE
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116 S. Hamilton St. Madison, WI 608-256-3570 tornadosteakhouse.com 7876 WI-188 Prairie du Sac, WI 608-643-6515 wollersheim.com
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e launched Madison Cocktail Week two years ago to celebrate our city’s breadth of quality beverage offerings. We wanted to showcase our city’s uniquely playful and inventive approach to Midwestern hospitality: the best of the ivory tower and pub. As our ambitions grew and we considered ways to bring neighbors together and draw in colleagues from across the country, we decided to shift our efforts from winter to fall. The conventional wisdom would have been to pick the most miserable week of the year – when hotel rooms are cheap – not the week of the Ohio State game. Still, it had to be fall. Football season has its social traditions, but it’s also when Madison’s social imagination seems to peak: With winter looming, we’re simply more active and adventurous. As we planned this event series, we were most excited to conceive and celebrate ways cocktails can bring people together outside of the restaurant and bar. Ultimately, whether it’s a tailgate, a Wiffle Ball tournament, a synchronized dance competition or a multi-course dinner in the shadow of a vineyard, what makes this all worthwhile has less to do with what ends up in the glass, and everything to do with the people who join us in the toast.
Cheers, Hastings Cameron, Tom Dufek, Mariah Renz and Chad Vogel UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED, EVENTS ARE A LA CARTE. ALL EVENTS ARE 21+.
Tue Oct 11 4 -6 pm
Casa Noble Cantina Pasqual’s
(East Washington Avenue)
Cocktail Week kicks off with an homage to that classic trio: tacos, Tuesdays and tequila. Pasqual’s will be featuring Casa Noble’s organic Lowland agave spirits, and serving a street-food-inspired taco menu to enjoy with flights of the blanco, reposado and añejo expressions. Cap it all off with a cocktail special that leavens the añejo’s cocoa-praline notes with lime. Call it dessert, or the perfect prelude to the next event.
6-8 :30 pm
Don Q Daiquiri Dash & Scavenger Hunt Gibs, Robin Room, Sujeo, Lucille
William Grant & Sons presents Dancing with the Startenders competition
Majestic The Olympics might be over, but we’re all for keeping the competitive juices flowing. You might be mildly curious how your favorite bartenders would fare on stage, battling to conceive the best Reyka, Monkey Shoulder, Flor de Caña, Hudson, Ancho Reyes or Milagro Tequila cocktails, but what happens when they do so with a costume budget, the A/V support of an iconic music venue, and mixology takes a backseat to “chemistry” on the score cards? Bet on the theater kids. Join us for a night of rhythmic magic as teams of Madison bartenders battle it out for $500, one synchronized pour at a time. Madison Cocktail Week’s kickoff party promises to be a winner-takes-all blend of synchronized swimming, gymnastics and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. After the cocktail conga line wraps up, DJ Bruce Blaq will get the rest of us dancing.
ISTHMUS DRINKS 2016
Remember how much you used to love scavenger hunts? The adult version offers more self-indulgent fun: Make your way from the near-east side to the Capitol in search of cane spirits and candid shots. Sample inventive daiquiris and photo-bomb guest bartender Ed Hong at Gib’s, find the booty in the Robin Room’s phone booth, savor snacks by Sujeo’s Jamie Hoang or plunge below-ground to pose with Lucille’s epic squiggly line mural. Each $4 snaquiri will showcase the range of Don Q Cristal, Añejo, Gran Añejo, Caliche & Barrow’s Intense Ginger Liqueur. Document one at each stop, and treasure awaits you at the Majestic.
9 pm
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Wed Oct 12 1- 2 : 3 0 pm
Cultivating Inclusion seminar
L’Etoile Join local industry professionals for a panel discussion on the ways we encounter and overcome gender inequality in the bartending world and how this relates to a bar or restaurant’s ability to foster a truly welcoming, safe and inspiring environment for staff. That environment goes hand-in-hand with an emphasis on impeccable service, which ultimately shapes the quality of a guest’s experience more than technique or provenance of ingredients. Conversation with panel attendees will follow the discussion, giving everyone a chance to bring their own experience to the table. Presented in conjunction with Spirited Women of Madison, whose members will helm the panel, and serve attendees a round or two of conversation-stimulating cocktails. Tickets: $10. Tickets available at IsthmusTickets.com
6:30 pm
Fillin’ Glasses, Takin’ Names — J. Henry Bourbon Cocktail Dinner Heritage Tavern
Heritage assistant bar manager Alex Kjell has run with Heritage’s farm-forward sensibilities, and none too soon: the world didn’t even know it needed a snap pea cocktail. She’s also been known to jump out from behind the bar, bound across the dining room floor and strain a daiquiri tableside, regardless of the season. Kjell’s a steadily rising star of Madison’s beverage culture, and her J. Henry Bourbon cocktail pairings for this four-course dinner will show why. J. Henry proprietor Liz Henry, another of the boldest women we know, will be on hand to drop whiskey knowledge and dispense life advice. Tickets: $65. Tickets available at IsthmusTickets.com
3 - 6 pm
Aperitivo Hour
Osteria Papavero Continue the conversation at this casual pre-dinner social hour. Enjoy palate-priming cocktails conceived by bar manager Jenny Griep with Francesco Mangano’s small-plate shareable Italian fare. Griep’s cocktails will draw upon importer Fasel Shenstone’s portfolio, unique in its laser-focus upon the kind of aromatized wines that practically beg to be enjoyed in convivial afternoon cocktails. Drop in anytime after 3 pm: $20 covers your first cocktail and all you can eat with your hands. Tickets: $20 (also available at door). Tickets available at IsthmusTickets.com
3 - 4 pm
Scotch & Cigars 4 -6 pm
Whisk(e)y Happy Hour ISTHMUS DRINKS 2016
Maduro
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Combining the pungency of scotch and cigars is among the most rewarding of luxuries, precisely because the two take time to properly enjoy together. That reflective time, coupled with the warm, inviting environment cultivated by bar manager Vanessa Shipley, has brought together countless patrons from disparate backgrounds over the bar’s 16 years. Here, Maduro cigar purveyor Joe Fuller works with Beam Suntory Scotch & Cigar specialists John Drew and Bradford Lawrence to bring you a scotch and cigar seminar pairing legendary Islay — Laphroaig, Bowmore — and Lowland — Auchentoshan – Scotches with the full-bodied, lightly spiced dried fruit of the HVC San Isidro Geniales. Enjoy the Scotch and cigar seminar between and then stick around for a happy hour to follow, as Maduro opens its doors and features the Scotches alongside cocktails made with Beam’s Small Batch Whiskey portfolio. Tickets: $10. Tickets available at IsthmusTickets.com
8 pm
Spirited Women Take Over Gib’s, Merchant
Gib’s and Merchant turn their bars over to some of the state’s finest bartenders. Jacki Walczak (Lucille), Meghan McCormick (Heritage Tavern), Amanda McGinley (Sardine), Mariah Renz (Julep), and Jenny Griep (Osteria Papavero) will sling Bol’s Genever cocktails at Merchant; Thor Messer wipes and fetches bottles. Lauren Franchi, the mind behind inclusive dance party Miss Connections, holds down the music as alter ego DJ Lolo. For a change of pace, let the MCW shuttle bus whisk you from Merchant to Gib’s, the first bar in Madison to plant a paw paw tree in its backyard. At Gib’s, bartender Kym Reindl is transforming the second floor bar with the help of Katie Rose (Milwaukee’s Goodkind), the Nonino sisters’ sublime grappa, some sporty-spicy 90s pop, a projector, and DJ Glynis Fisher.
Thu Oct 13
3 -8 pm
Death’s Door Spirits presents the Midwest Wiffle Invitational Breese Stevens Field
Paul Guse provides the color commentary. DJ Nick Nice keeps the party going across the field. No hiding in the dugout: Come one, come all to the 2016 Midwest Wiffle Invitational! Cheer for your favorite Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago and Minneapolis drink-slingers as they compete for the title of Wiffle Champion and the honor of passing around a shiny replica trophy when they get back home. (A hometown play-in game will allow Madison bartenders to compete for their place on the city’s roster. The Barmadillo will be on hand to whip-up Death’s Door’s Gin, Vodka, and Wondermint cocktails to slake your thirst, along with a slew of food carts. Your admission ticket covers the first cocktail. Tickets: $7; $10 at the gate. Tickets available at IsthmusTickets.com
8 pm
Beam Small Batch Whiskey Cocktail Dinner Graft
Graft beverage director Scott Anderson pairs uncannily balanced Basil Hayden’s, Booker’s, Baker’s and Knob Creek bourbon cocktails with chef Travis Vaughn’s self-assuredly elegant Midwest-inspired fare. Tickets: $60. Tickets available at IsthmusTickets.com
9 pm
Madison Midwest Swap Pop Up
Tornado Club, Lucille, Madison’s ISTHMUS DRINKS 2016
If a key party breaks out in a church basement, and Garrison Keillor isn’t around to narrate, did it happen at all? This late-night collaboration series forgoes the lutefisk and packs all the Midwest charm, mischief and cutting-edge cocktail talent we could into the coziest subterranean venues. Guests from Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis take over the Tornado’s Corral Room, Lucille’s boom-boom vault and Madison’s downstairs lounge. They’ll showcase Jameson Caskmates, Absolut, Altos, Powers, Aberlour, and Plymouth Gin with menus that allow you to choose between escapism and a witty embrace of place. Nordic Tiki. Need we say more?
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Fri Oct 14 3 -10 pm
Invitation to a Fish Fry Tip Top Tavern
Vladimir Nabokov delighted in the peculiarities of all manner of Americana, but the Russian writer never held forth on the traditional Midwestern fish fry. To our knowledge, at least. Tip Top bar manager Justin Meyers and his crew seek to rectify that with this Tito’s happy hour featuring the “Pale Fire,” “Vivian Darkbloom” and “Speak, Memory.” Tuck into the Tip Top’s cozy salon, and don’t forget, it’s pronounced “nuh-BO-kof.”
4 -6 pm
Distillery Tour
and brandy discussion
Old Sugar Distillery
Join owner Nathan Greenawalt for an in-depth tour and discussion of brandy production. You’ll enjoy a cocktail and sip some memorable brandy as you kick off your Friday the best way. This event culminates in an open-to-the-public happy hour done in Old Sugar Distillery style, with plenty of handcrafted spirits to join the brandy on the menu. Tickets: $10. Tickets available at IsthmusTickets.com
5 : 1 5 pm
Road Trip — Wollersheim Distillery cocktail dinner
Wollersheim Distillery (Departs from Merchant) Perhaps you knew that Wisconsin winemakers are actually allowed to distill brandy? After the success of its first few Coquard brandy releases, Wollersheim didn’t rest on its laurels. Here, the MCW bus will pick you up downtown at Merchant and whisk you to Wollersheim’s brand-new distillery, where you’ll enjoy a delicious dinner crafted by chefs Evan Dannells and Dan Fox of Merchant and Heritage Tavern. Bar managers Thor Messer and Clint Sterwald will pair cocktails featuring the new distillery’s absinthe, gin and just-released 2016 bottling of Coquard, the brandy that started it all. Tickets: $80. Tickets available at IsthmusTickets.com
6 : 3 0 pm
Great Northern Exposure ISTHMUS DRINKS 2016
The Old Fashioned, Julep
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We’re doubling-down on fish fry with Great Northern. Madison classic The Old Fashioned and Southern upstart Julep will feature spirits produced by Plover, Wisconsin’s, burgeoning distillery. Plan ahead and grab a ticket for the Old Fashioned’s family-style fish fry with all the fixin’s and special cocktail pairings, or head to Julep, where their Friday catfish fry will be well under way, and three Great Northern Cocktails will be featured. Both locations will be mixing a variety of new and classic cocktails using Great Northern liquors. Old Fashioned Tickets: $30; Julep: à la carte. Tickets available at IsthmusTickets.com
9 pm
Staycation Collaboration — Late Night Bar Team Swaps Merchant, Field Table, Lucille
This late-night collaboration series formed the foundation of the first Madison Cocktail Week. Now it’s tradition. Dave Biefer and the Mezze bar team step behind the bar at Merchant and bring their Mediterranean flair to bear on cocktails featuring the Terlato Artisan Spirits portfolio. Oliver’s bar manager Ricky Pajewski joins Mike McDonald at Field Table for Fernet Branca, Zaya Rum, Corralejo Tequila and Templeton Rye cocktails. Looking for the Robin Room’s Mike Lu? He’ll be hiding out downstairs at Lucille, rocking WhistlePig Rye.
Sat Oct 15 9 a m- 3 pm
Death’s Door Cocktail Brunch Oliver’s Public House
JEREMY BAZELY
Death’s Door master distiller Jason Veal’s longstanding friendship with Oliver’s chef Patrick McCormick was forged working alongside each other in Madison kitchens. They will both help bar manager Ricky Pajewski conceive a menu that pairs refreshing Death’s Door brunch cocktails with McCormick’s elegantly hearty New American staples.
5–10 pm 10 a m
Farmers’ Market Frogger field table
Supermarket Sweep returns in a bold new way as participating bartenders are sent charging through Madison’s nationally renowned Saturday Farmers’ Market with a fistful of dollars to be used on cocktail ingredients (and spicy cheese bread). Once they gather what they need, bartenders hurry back to Field Table to execute new spins on the classic Bee’s Knees, using The Botanist Gin, itself conceived with 22 foraged Islay botanicals, while brunchers look on. A panel of judges will, of course, award coveted prizes — $250, and appropriately enough, brunch the following day — to the winner.
1- 2 : 3 0 pm
Science of Aging seminar
L’Etoile
Rocky Rococo
Cocktail Week merges with Badger mania as Bucky takes on the Ohio State Buckeyes, and Rocky’s parking lot will reflect this convergence with a tailgate and viewing party unlike any other. “Captain Morgan” himself will join the Robin Room’s Chad Vogel and encourage a festive mood by providing attendees with plenty of the Captain’s Cold Coffee Cola, autumnal Crown Royal cocktails, Cold as Ice Smirnoff Collins and superior Bulleit Old Fashioned sours. DJ Nick Nice keeps the party moving, win or lose.
11 pm
Expressions of Texture competition
Argus Perhaps it’s been awhile since you last took a jello shot; perhaps you consider yourself something of a jello shot connoisseur. Either way you’re going to want to get yourself to the Argus basement, where bartenders will relive their partying days with a Patron Silver steeped jello shot competition, judged by the audience –– and a pastry chef. There will be madness; there will be hashtags; there will be so much jiggling. Consider yourself too old for all this? Argus bartenders will have Roca Patron cocktails on hand for the more discerning agave consumer. ISTHMUS DRINKS 2016
Without wood, there is no whiskey. Much like human beings, a whiskey is not defined in personality by merely its grain components, its DNA. The distillate we barrel is innocent, pure, untouched by the harsh realities of Mother Nature. In order to live a long successful life, spirits must dedicate years, decades even, studying under the careful tutelage of oak. Join us as WhistlePig Rye Whiskey’s Taylor Hansen illuminates the biochemical relationship between bark and booze. Tickets: $10. Tickets available at IsthmusTickets.com
Cocktail Week Cabana
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Sun Oct 16
11 a m
Disco Brunch Natt Spil
Head over to Natt Spil for what promises to be a certifiable blast into our disco past as we sip on Sauza Hornitos Black Barrel Tequila and Cruzan Single Barrel and Black Strap rums while sampling some of Natt Spill’s finest food choices. Food, booze and disco balls spun by DJs VPS and Zukas. It’s been a long week: Treat yourself.
12 : 1 5 pm
Stirring up Balance — A Yoga Class for Lifestyle Balance
ISTHMUS DRINKS 2016
The Studio
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A yoga class designed for people who love to indulge in food and drink? What could be better? Instructor Cass Hanson says it’s all about balance: “Sipping tasty cocktails and eating rich foods are enjoyable ways to experience life, but attention to our overall well-being is essential.” This class will focus on life in the service industry, and address such things as repetitive stress injuries. The session will begin with a short discussion on lifestyle balance both at work and play. Wear comfortable clothing, and bring a yoga mat.” Don’t have one? MCW has you covered. After class, participants are welcomed down the hall to Sardine for their choice of N/A refreshment or a low-ABV cocktail featuring liqueurs and aromatized wines imported by Haus Alpenz. Tickets: $15. Tickets available at IsthmusTickets.com
2 pm
Packers Game Pig Roast and Viewing Party
Robinia Courtyard It will be an immovable feast as Robinia chef Nick Johnson, Pig in a Fur Coat chef Dan Bonanno, and Underground Food Collective chef Jonny Hunter gather together under Robinia’s roof for a hearty family-style dinner, and the requisite football snack fare, while you watch the Packers take on that obscure team from Dallas. Elijah Craig Bourbon, Rittenhouse, Canton and Pama all join in the game day festivities. Tickets: $35, includes first cocktail. Tickets available at IsthmusTickets.com
9 pm
Industry after-party Robin Room
Like Christmas, Cocktail Week must, sadly, come to an end. For this bittersweet occasion, Robin Room opens its doors to all for one final tip of the hat to cocktails and the women and men who create them. Featuring exquisite bourbon, rye, vodka and gin from the 45th Parallel distillery as well as Alessandro Monachello’s “is good for you” pizza, this farewell bash will place a comfortably fitting cap on the week.
Thank You to all of our Sponsors
ISTHMUS DRINKS 2016
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